4 Best Florida State Parks To Go Camping

Florida runs 175 state parks, every one of them open 365 days a year, and the system has won the national gold medal for best state parks a record four times. The reasons are not subtle. There are around 100 miles of beaches, 2,000 miles of trails, and weather that cooperates almost year-round, give or take the occasional hurricane. Some 32 million people visit Florida's parks every year, and a day trip is easy, but a night or two is where the parks really open up. These four are the best-equipped for camping.

Anastasia State Park

It is hard to beat falling asleep a short walk from the surf. Anastasia State Park, 1,600 acres just outside St. Augustine, has four miles of white-sand beach backed by dunes, tidal marshes, and the blue of the Atlantic Ocean. The 139 campsites sit inside a sheltered maritime hammock and take both RVs and tents. Every site comes with water, electricity, a picnic table, an in-ground grill, and a fire ring, and several are paved with modified tables and grills for easier access. There is even a Bedtime Story Camper Lending Library to keep the youngest campers happy. By day the park is a magnet for birdwatchers, since it forms part of the Great Florida Birding and Wildlife Trail, and there is swimming, surfing, boating, fishing, paddling, and cycling, with rentals on site.

Jonathan Dickinson State Park

Down on the southeast coast, Jonathan Dickinson State Park mixes rare habitats with real history, including a World War II radar camp and Trapper Nelson's pioneer homestead. The 10,500-acre park sits just south of Hobe Sound, between the Indian River and the Loxahatchee River, one of only two National Wild and Scenic Rivers in the state. There are options for every kind of camper. The Pine Grove Campground has 90 sites and the River Campground has 54, both family and pet-friendly and fully serviced, with hot showers and laundry. A five-site campground handles horses, two backcountry sites reward anyone hiking the Florida Trail, reachable by a five or nine-mile trek, and three group sites host youth troops of up to 30.

Topsail Hill Preserve State Park

The best beach camping on the Florida Panhandle is at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park, just east of Destin, wedged between Choctawhatchee Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. It takes its name from the wild white quartz dunes that rise like ship's sails over the beaches, and it protects something genuinely unusual: rare coastal dune lakes, freshwater bodies that sit almost on the shoreline and teem with wildlife. Beyond the three miles of quiet coast, the park is a serious birding and hiking spot, and it can accommodate just about anyone. There are 156 RV sites and 22 tent sites with power and amenities, 32 cabins and bungalows, and even glamping setups for people who want the tent experience without giving up a real bed.

Lake Kissimmee State Park

Roughly 70 miles south of Orlando and 80 miles east of Tampa, Lake Kissimmee State Park drops campers into the middle of Florida cow country for something older and quieter. The 5,930-acre park is ringed by lakes Kissimmee, Tiger, and Rosalie, so the water activities are endless, and there are six miles of equestrian trails and 13 miles of hiking trails on top of that. The signature draw is the living-history demonstration staged at an 1876-era cow camp, complete with a costumed "cow hunter." Campers can choose from 60 standard serviced sites, equestrian and backcountry sites that require packing your gear in, two youth-group sites, and luxury pioneer tents for the glamping crowd. Best of all, once the sun goes down, the remote setting delivers a night sky with almost no light pollution.

Pitch a Tent in the Sunshine State

Falling asleep to breaking waves, or turning in under a sky thick with stars, is a harder thing to find than it used to be. Florida makes it about as easy as anywhere, with one of the best-funded and fastest-growing park systems in the country. Working through all 175 could take a lifetime, but everyone starts somewhere, and these four camping-friendly parks are a very good place to begin.